303+304

Damon's P.OV

Yeah, but like... I'm her mate so it doesn't count - I argue brushing him off as I push my way inside while avoiding hitting against anything.

"I'm room 304, top floor. What about you?" I ask after squatting down to press the call button for the elevator.

"...room 303." She replies with narrow eyes.

"I'm starting to think you're a stalker," I say playfully but she doesn't laugh. "Hm, okay then."

It doesn't take long to make it back to our floor where Wilona seems to sag in relief. I put her down in front of her door, the task disturbingly difficult with the amount of resistance my body put against letting her go. But I force myself to do so and step away to give her some space.

"Will you be okay?" I ask watching her as I handed her her bag. She takes it with another sigh of relief. "With your ankle? I can take a l-"

"I'll be fine." She cuts in with a hard smile, while digging through the bag for her keys.

The minute she finds it, she unlocks the door and goes inside, letting the puppy inside before slamming it shut without another word.

I stand outside the door a little stunned as the sound of many locks click into place from the other side. Then nothing else happens and I realize a little too late that she's probably listening for me to leave.

So I oblige, opening my own door and going inside only to press my ear against it the moment I closed it.

I hear her sigh in relief before I hear consequential cursing, wincing as she moved further into her own apartment and then surprisingly, tears.

She was crying.....

I clench the knob to go back out but Theo uses as much as strength as he can muster to stop me.

It'll do no good right now! - He growls as he fights against me. No good at all! Clearly, something horrible happened tonight, give her some fucking space Damon!

The curse takes me by surprise enough for me to loosen my grip, Theo never cursed, she was like Peter in that regard and it pissed me off to no ends. My force slowly fades as I release the knob, easing my grip and force myself to take a step back. I move back a little to distance myself from the temptation, but my mate's muffled cries continue to ring through my ears and the walls.

She sobs as if someone was hurting her in the room right now, but I knew she was alone. The sound of her torment pushing a new form of agony down my throat as every fiber inside of me craved to just go hold her.

But the tense time I'd spent with my mate had taught me that she was more fragile than her chemistry demanded her to be. Something had happened and someone had hurt her bad.

I spend the rest of the night, listening to my mate's misery with no way to end it. My heart tearing with every sob, following beside her cries that seemed to never end.

****

Wilona's P.O.V.

I part my eyes at the sound of Sassy's soft whines, her small paws scratching at the door aggressively to be let out.

I shift my head to look at her, any annoyance being wiped out by the immediate guilt that forms when I spot her leash still attached to her collar from the previous night.

The previous night....

I hadn't had a day that bad in a long time. Hadn't felt that useless for such a long time, that I'd somehow convinced myself I wasn't still broken.

"Sorry girl," I say tiredly, wincing slightly at the way my voice rasped with the pressure against my vocal cords.

I rub at my eyes tiredly, forcing myself to sit up despite the blinding pain which shots up from my ankle at the action, attaching itself to every inch of my body. My muscles ache from all corners eliciting a groan of discomfort, the slight pang of a headache reminding me of the way I'd fallen asleep.

Crying and in pain.

I thought I'd gotten past that, but last night reminded me without mercy that I hadn't.

I try standing but fall straight back down when I foolishly place pressure onto my right foot. I curse angrily at my stupidity, my foot throbbing its discomfort. I frown at the extremity of my leg, willing it to stop being a bitch.

My thumping head sways as memories pool in one by one. Blue not showing up, running in sheer panic, endless darkness, falling, crying and finally, Damon.

The man's blurred face resurfaces instantly but it fades quickly with the headache that was clearly trying to kill me. I always got horrible ones when I cried too much and God knew I cried my fair share last night.

I lift my foot to take a look at it, putting it right back down when I receive a blurred image.

Sadness jabs itself at my chest and I let it in, the reminder of not being able to see rearing its ugly head as it did every morning. I thought by now it'd wear off, but it hadn't, even after all these months I still woke up everyday forgetting what had happened, until something reminded me that I'd lost my vision.

Sassy's whining pulls me from my self-analysis and consequential misery, reminding me she missed her morning walk and was probably dying to pee.

I stand up, placing my entire body on my left leg enough to limp over to the door. I slip my feet into my slides slowly before bending down to grab her leash which I hadn't unhooked from her last night. I mumble a shameful apology at not doing so earlier.

Once I'd locked myself in my apartment, I'd crashed into bed and sobbed until I fell asleep.

I was so useless....

I grab my keys and slip out with Sassy. Taking a glance across at the door opposite to mine, room 304. I wonder briefly if he was home or if he was sleeping, there wasn't a sound to be heard on the other side and he was probably tired after dealing with me last night.

Sassy pulls me down the hallway impatiently, I mumble small 'okay's, continuing my limping behind her with soft curses when my right foot took too much weight, trying my hardest to ignore the pain.

A weird amount of comfort forms at the thought that my ankle couldn't possibly be broken, not if I was putting pressure on it without falling straight down. It was probably sprained, but that didn't stop it from hurting like hell.

Once we're outside, Sassy finds the nearest bush and let's go. I look away when she sends me her usual glare for privacy.

I stare across at the building's entrance instead and find myself pulled back to last night when Damon had carried me inside.

Shame fills me at the memory of being so powerless last night, at breaking down and crying in front of someone I didn't even know. On top of all that, I was stubborn, mean and useless, yet he stayed with me and helped me.

And I, in response, shut the door in his face without so much as a thank you. I wince with my entire body at the memory, further shame and guilt easing its way into me.

But it'd all been too much at the time.

It had been way too much for just one night. The darkness, the memories, and another person's touch. It all just built itself together to leave me fractured at the weight of it.

It was overwhelming, to remember the things I'd buried all while having someone looming over me.

I needed to be alone, needed to know I was truly safe and alone. But the moment I had, I'd completely fallen apart.

My recollection of the past mixed themselves in with the events of last night, the result leaving my skin crawling with discomfort while my stomach twisted with the need to be emptied. Damon's helpful touch being overlayered by their painful administrations and it left me shattered.

No matter how much I scrubbed my skin under the warm water that eventually turned cold, I still felt just as dirty.

Sassy returns my way and I shake my head to push the painful memories back. I make quick work of picking up and throwing away her mess, gagging throughout the task while Sassy watched with a happy tongue flopping out of her mouth. I shake my head at her, my heart warming at her helpless innocence, I pet her a little longer than usual before we make our way back inside.

My eyes drag themselves back to the door that had 304 plastered on top while I open my own. I push inside my own room, refilling Sassy's food and water bowl, before stumbling back to my bed.